Rick Riordan first published “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” in 2005, earning several awards and selling over 1.8 million copies in its first five years. In 2017, 8-year-old me was forced to try it out, and I loved it. By the end of that year, I had read all of the books in the series, and I was obsessed with them for so long. I slowly began to forget about them until 2023, when the Percy Jackson show came out.
At first, I was hesitant to watch because of the casting, but as I watched, I fell in love with it. The show offers a different perspective. Riordan is directly involved with the making of the show. He cast the current actors, claiming that their physical appearance came secondary to him. He chose Walker Scobell (actor of Percy Jackson) and Leah Jeffries (actor of Annabeth Chase) because they brought their characters’ personalities to life. I believe that even though the actors weren’t originally the characters I had in my mind, they were the best choice as actors. They both truly care about their characters, and they show it.
One major change in the show compared to the books is what happened to Thalia Grace. (SPOILERS AHEAD) In the books, Thalia stays behind to face the three Furies and an army of hellhounds to protect her friends. As she was dying, Zeus took pity on her and turned her into the pine tree that acts as the magic barrier for Camp Half-Blood. However, in the show, Chiron (Glynn Turman) reveals that he lied about Thalia (Tamara Smart), and what actually happened was that the Furies were there to send a message from Hades– seeing this, Zeus offered her protection at camp, but Thalia refused. We then see that Zeus turned Thalia into the pine tree to prevent her from leaving. This change to Thalia drastically adds to her character, making her personality and story way more interesting.
In the end, the Percy Jackson series has been very promising. It is based on the books, but it is not an exact copy, and that’s what makes the show so special. It has its own stories within it, plot twists that surprise even the original readers. Overall, I can’t wait to see the next season come out and the changes they make to the story. I think when the show is done, it will truly be a proud moment for the directors, actors and Rick Riordan himself. I truly recommend watching the show and reading the books to anyone who is interested.
